


Simple Pleasures

by Cinaed



Category: CSI: Las Vegas
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-19
Updated: 2006-08-19
Packaged: 2017-10-07 23:18:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/pseuds/Cinaed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Nick just needs to be reminded that life has simple pleasures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simple Pleasures

**Author's Note:**

> A post-"Gumdrops" fic.

It is a little after noon when Nick finishes getting Cassie McBride's statement, and while he knows he should go home and sleep, or at the very least take a shower, he finds finds himself driving over to Bobby's instead. He doesn't even realize he's doing it at first -- it's only after he glances at a street sign that he realizes he's somehow turned right where he should have turned left. He doesn't turn back though, just tightens his grip on the wheel and keeps driving. 

Tiffany should be finished with school for the day, he thinks, and that thought is enough to loosen some of the tension that has been in his shoulders ever since he entered the McBride house. Bobby's probably making her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and she is probably sitting at the kitchen table, idly swinging her feet and chattering about something exciting that happened at kindergarten. He can picture it in his head, Tiffany beaming at her father, Bobby smiling fondly back. 

It seems like only a minute later, though it's actually been ten or so, when he pulls into Bobby's driveway, parking behind the other man's pickup and killing the engine and just staring at the small, one-story house for a long moment. He and Bobby have only been dating two months now, and Nick is still a little unsure on where the lines have been drawn in this relationship. 

Still, he fights back his uncertainty and makes his way to the front door, knocking twice and then sticking his damp hands into the pockets of his pants to wait. It doesn't take long -- he can hear Bobby's hollered, "Jes' a sec!" and the sound of quick footfalls -- and then Bobby opens the door and blinks at him. "Nick?" 

"Hey," he says, and smiles weakly. "Is it okay if I come in? I was gonna head home, but I just wanted...." He trails off, not certain what he wants, exactly, and suspects even if he knew what it was, he wouldn't be able to put it into words. 

"Come on in, Nick. Ya know ya are always welcome," Bobby says softly, opening the door wider, and Nick's weak smile firms on his lips. The Georgian is watching him with slightly narrowed, searching eyes, but Bobby doesn't ask why he's here. Of course, he probably knows about Nick's bad day. The entire _lab_ is probably gossiping about his outburst in the interrogation room. 

Nick takes a step inside, and Bobby adds, "Tiff's eatin' her lunch now." 

He grins a little at that. "Lemme guess, PB &amp; J?" 

Bobby chuckles. "Tiff wouldn't have it any other way. She likes her routine." 

"I still say she shouldn't eat peanut butter. The stuff's nasty, Bobby. I mean--"

"Nicky!" A minute later the small but powerful frame of a certain six-year-old has barreled into his gut, knocking the breath from him, and Tiffany takes the opportunity as he doubles over slightly to grab at his shirt and tug him down for a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Daddy didn't say you were comin'!" 

She looks a little accusingly towards her father, who just grins and holds up his hands in an apologetic gesture for mercy.

Nick smiles down at her. She is so very different from Cassie McBride, with a strong little voice not made hoarse by grief and fear, hair as unmanageable and thick as her father's rather than soft, straight strands, eyes still bright with innocence instead of soul-weary, and a gap-toothed grin that lights up her entire face rather than a bittersweet, jaded smile that doesn't each her eyes. 

"I didn't tell him, sweetheart," he says, deciding to spare Bobby Tiffany's wrath. 

"Oh, it was a _surprise_," Tiffany says, nodding wisely, and then grabs his hand. "C'mon, we were having lunch. Have you had lunch?" When he gives a little shrug and doesn't immediately assure her that he's eaten (he has never been able to stomach hospital food), she frowns at him and says severely, "You need to eat more of Daddy's food."

Nick just grins at her miniature dictator act, and nods. "As long as he doesn't try and sneak any peanut butter into my sandwich." 

Tiffany, who has never quite understood Nick's hatred of peanut butter, just wrinkles her nose and decides, "Daddy can make you a ham sandwich wi' cheese." 

"Or Daddy could make Nick whatever he's in the mood for," Bobby interrupts, looking amused. 

Nick's stomach twists a little, and he's suddenly ravenous. "Actually, a ham sandwich sounds really good," he declares, and Tiffany beams at him and drags him into the kitchen, hopping into his lap when he sits down and tugging her plate over. 

The half-finished sandwich smells strongly of peanut butter, and Nick resists the urge to turn his head away even as Tiffany launches into a story about her friend Allie who got to bring her dog to school today. 

"Sandy's so pretty, an' she's learnin' to be a dog who helps blind people," Tiffany explains proudly, and continues chattering away about Sandy and from the awe in her voice, Nick gets the feeling that Bobby's going to be getting a hopeful look and inquiry on if they could get a dog in the very near future. 

"Here, ham and Swiss," Bobby says quietly, letting Tiffany speak over him, and Nick shoots him a grateful look before he takes a huge bite of the sandwich. "Want a root beer with that?" When Nick nods, the Georgian heads over to the fridge, and Nick's gaze cannot help but follow him. 

Bobby moves with an easy sort of confidence, and each gesture is casual and laid-back as he opens the door of the fridge and grabs two root beers. When he sits down and slides one across to Nick, his smile is warm and infectious, and Nick feels the final knot of tension in his shoulders finally give as he basks in the relaxing warmth of Bobby's lopsided grin. 

This, he thinks, as he nurses the root beer and munches on the ham and Swiss sandwich, listening to Tiffany gush about Sandy and sharing a smile with Bobby, is what makes him get through another day, the fact that even though mindless cruelty ruins innocent lives like Cassie McBride's, there is still innocence left untouched in the world.   



End file.
